Classic Game Creations
Background Classic Game Creations (CGC) is the game development company owned by programmer John Donzila. CGC was the first company to release brand new games for the Vectrex, which began in 1996 with Vector Vaders. Not only would it be his first Vectrex game, but also the very first Vectrex homebrew game ever. It was unveiled on March 8. Classic Game Creations, Vectrex products 1996 marked a busy year for Dondzila/CGC, as he went on to establish many "firsts" for the Vectrex: Vector Vaders was not only the very first new game for the system in 12 years, but it was also the very first homebrew game for it as well. Patriots was also released/next, making it being not only the very first cartridge with two games on it (Patriots, as well as a bonus hidden game), but it was also the very first limited edition game for the Vectrex. Rockaroids was also the first clone of the arcade smash Asteroids (something Vectrex owners had yet to receive for their machine, as it was closer a clone than the built-in Mine Storm was). Not only was the next release of All Good Things the biggest compilation of Vectrex games yet (five on the one cartridge), but it was also the first 16K cartridge for the Vectrex to date, and then the next release of Spike Hoppin' was not only the first homebrew that had voice synthesis included, but it was also the first 16K game for the system as well. Then in 1999, Vecmania was the first 64K cartridge for the system (along with it being the first cartridge for the Vectrex to have nine games total on it), and then Gravitrex on Gravitrex Plus in 2002 would be the first 32K game for the system (along with having the bonus games of Patriots III, an "arcade" version of Gravitrex, and the hidden Paratroopers was also included on the cartridge), which was released to commensurate the 20th anniversary of the Vectrex. (Also, the Vectropolis 500 demo on the Vectopia release came out in between [[Vecmania] and Gravitrex Plus] would also be the first ever four player game for the Vectrex as well, although the game was not finished.) Releases came to an abrupt end from there though, as Space Frenzy (currently the final game to be released), a clone of the arcade game Space Fury, did not come out until 2006, with no other games since. CGC also supplied players with modified Sega Genesis controllers so they could work on Vectrexes (along with modified PlayStation controllers for a short time as well). Unfortunately in 2009, with it being several years since the Genesis had ceased production (thus companies creating new controllers had quit making these, as they were probably not profitable to continue doing so any more), Dondzila started having problems securing new Genesis pads to convert, which resulted in his discontinuation of making them available for his site until he announced the end of his business in mid 2013. Price fixings and other platforms CGC was a company which made a commitment to offer an experience for the Vectrex which always remained affordable. Dondzila kept the basic price for CGC's offerings firm of $20 US (not including shipping) since he started producing them in 1996 and kept them that way until the business's end of 2013. In addition, most of CGC's original releases were almost always compilations with more than one game. This gave the buyer the most value for their money. This also lead to what might be the most prolific sales of any homebrew games, as Vecmania and Vectopia had initial sales of 500 long before the box art was ever changed. CGC was open to other homebrewers making their games available through his site as well, although the last one to be released, Nebula Commander, came out in 2005. Vectrex carts site continuation Mark Shaker ran the Vectrex carts website for several years, building reproductions of all original GCE-released Vectrex games (except for AnimiAction) and some of their unreleased games, selling homebrew games and hacks from other programmers (neither of the latter could be done for profit, just for packaging, the games and shipping, as "father of the Vectrex" Jay Smith allowed), and supplying PCBs for Vectrex owners who wanted them to make their own cartridges. However, due to Shaker's father being admitted into a hospital for an extended amount of time, Dondzila offered to take over the site from Shaker, and did so from 2007 until the end of 2013. This added eleven games to the many games already available from CGC, some of which included unreleased GCE games such as Dark Tower and Tour De France, hacked games included Berzerk Debugged and Star Trek Debugged, and other homebrewers' games included Protector/Y*A*S*I, V-Frogger, Nebula Commander, and several others. Also, CGC had the ability to obtain reproduction Vectrex cartridge shells. In addition to a large selection of games offered, the company also provided a service of building cartridges for those that requested it and had the permission of the original developer. This allowed customers to produce their own games or receive a custom dedicated cartridge of a game not normally available for sale. Future endeavors in doubt/continuation In June, 2013, Dondzila announced the end of CGC was coming on December 31st, due to not having time to continue with producing games, developing personal projects, keeping his web site running and working his day job all at once. Then on September 20th, he announced the premature closing of the business, citing that the rush for his products wiped out his supplies and he ended the building of any more games for the Vectrex and ColecoVision. However, Packrat Video Games, LLC started re-releasing several of CGC's and Vectrex carts games in November, 2014, which included Vecmania, Protector/Y*A*S*I, Gravitrex Plus and Thrust, and the rest of the CGC/Vectrex carts library was fully re-released in April, 2015. CGC, other products Although the majority of CGC's involvement with the homebrew scene was geared towards the Vectrex, the Odyssey2 and ColecoVision also had additions to their libraries as well from the company. For the Odyssey2, Dondzila created the arcade Berzerk clone of Amok! and the 233-In-1 Multicart (containing pretty much everything released for the Odyssey2). He also created the unfinished Purple Dinosaur Massacre demo (a nod to the Barney PBS television entity), Star Fortress (a Star Castle clone) and Space Invasion (arcade Space Invaders and Space Invaders Deluxe clones) for the ColecoVision. Classic Game Creations Releases Vectrex Games *All Good Things *Gravitrex Plus *Patriots *Rockaroids Remix *Space Frenzy *Spike Hoppin' *Spike's Water Balloons Analog *Vecmania *Vectopia *Vector Vaders *Any CGC game on an individual cartridge that the owner could want Vectrex carts releases *Berzerk Debugged *Moon Lander *Nebula Commander *Polar Rescue Prototype *Protector/Y*A*S*I *Revector *Star Trek Debugged *Thrust *Tour de France *V-Frogger *Vaboom!/Vectrace (aka Ronen's Game Cart) Vectrex games, hacks *All original GCE-released games (except for AnimiAction) *Verzerk (unconfirmed) Odyssey 2 Games * 233 Game Multicart * AMOK! Colecovision Games * Purple Dinosaur Massacre * Space Invasion * Star Fortress This article was featured from September - October, 2018. Category:Vectrex personnel Category:Homebrew Category:Homebrewer Category:Vectrex games